Horse Race For The Cabinet
November 20, 2008
The papers are full of stories today about who the Obama team is vetting for cabinet positions. You probably know “to vet” means “to thoroughly check someone out.” But did you know “to vet” was originally a horse racing term? It meant that a horse couldn’t run until a veterinarian checked him over and gave him a clean bill of health.
Only the Pondering Pig knows useless information like that.
Actually, I was most impressed with that bit of trivia. It’s nice to know your steel trap isn’t rusty.
Speacking of cabinet posts, I was watching Duck Soup the other day and couldn’t help but hope O’bama (didn’t know he was Irish) picked folks like Pinky and Chicolini. We need some laffs.
“A Firefly never forgets.”
Is it spelled “vet” or “vett”? I don’t remember hearing / seeing the term before this election year when I read that McCain didn’t “vet /vett” his VP choice well enough, etc., etc.
Never let it be said I don’t go to bat for my fellow ponderers. I just checked The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. And, among other obvious meanings for ‘vet’ I found, “To subject to thorough examination or evaluation: vet a manuscript.” So the term has been around at least since the Clinton administration. And probably long before.